Revealed: The 66 new occupations facing worker shortages on the Skills Priority List

Tax accountants, architects, and waiters are among the professions to join the new-look skills priority list in 2023, as a storm of labour market shortages, training bottlenecks, and payroll constraints keep Australian businesses from acquiring the talent they need.

The inaugural Jobs and Skills Report 2023, released Wednesday by the new Jobs and Skills Australia agency, examines where employers are having difficulty filling specialised roles, or where they cannot find a suitable person for the role at all.

It found that 36% of all Australian occupation types, or 332 out of 916, have experienced shortages in 2023.

That marks a 5% increase from the 2022 Skills Priority List, which was compiled by the former National Skills Commission.

Of those 332 occupations, 66 were newcomers to the list in 2023, with those occupation types largely comprised of highly trained professionals.

However, the list also represents a tightness in the market for specialised tradespeople, agricultural workers, and care workers.

The list of occupations in shortage in 2023 that were not in shortage in 2022 includes:

• Sales and Marketing Manager
• Procurement Manager
• Accommodation and Hospitality Managers nec
• Taxation Accountant
• Financial Investment Adviser
• Recruitment Consultant
• Workplace Relations Adviser
• Actuary
• Liaison Officer
• Technical Sales Representatives nec
• Aeroplane Pilot
• Flying Instructor
• Air Transport Professionals nec
• Ship’s Engineer
• Architect
• Other Spatial Scientist
• Illustrator
• Multimedia Designer
• Interior Designer
• Urban and Regional Planner
• Industrial Engineer
• Aeronautical Engineer
• Agricultural Engineer
• Biomedical Engineer
• Engineering Technologist
• Naval Architect / Marine Designer
• Aquaculture or Fisheries Scientist
• Environmental Research Scientist
• Middle School Teacher / Intermediate School Teacher
• Nuclear Medicine Technologist
• Environmental Health Officer
• Audiologist
• Radiation Oncologist
• Nurse Educator
• Solicitor
• Social Worker
• Animal Husbandry Technician
• Aquaculture or Fisheries Technician
• Irrigation Designer
• Pharmacy Technician
• Earth Science Technician
• Architectural Draftsperson
• Mine Deputy
• Irrigation Technician
• Graphic Pre-press Trades Worker
• Boat Builder and Repairer
• Shipwright
• Light Technician
• Sound Technician
• Ambulance Officer
• Out of School Hours Care Worker
• Nursing Support Worker
• Waiter
• Flight Attendant
• Legal Secretary
• Insurance Loss Adjuster
• Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Worker
• Rubber Production Machine Operator
• Shot Firer
• Train Controller
• Train Driver
• Tram Driver
• Railway Track Worker
• Cotton Farm Worker
• Sugar Cane Farm Worker
• Livestock Husbandry Worker.

The overall list of occupation shortages, including fields that have recorded worker shortages since 2021, reflects broad trends in the Australian economy.

Some 50% of occupations in the Technicians and Trades Workers category remain on the national SPL for 2023, including 100% of occupations in the Construction Trades Workers and Food
Trades Workers sub-groups.

About 48% of occupations under the broad Professionals umbrella are in shortage, largely as a result of tightness in the Health Professionals sub-groups.

Shortages among the Community and Personal Service Workers category also grew to 24% in 2023, echoing the shortage of healthcare workers and demonstrating Australia’s growing need for care workers.

Although the list of occupations in shortage grew overall, 23 occupations listed in 2022 left the list in 2023.

They include the Software and Applications Programmers nec occupation category, even though those skills remain highly in demand by Australian employers.

Education lag, suitability gaps, and retention rates in question

The rise in overall skills shortages across occupation types “reflects the cumulative impacts of recruitment challenges stemming from a persistently tight labour market, which began tightening from late 2021,” the report said.

Specific drivers for that disconnect between employers and the right talent include “a decrease in fill rates for these occupations and employers receiving fewer suitable and qualified applicants per vacancy,” it added.

The four diagnosed causes of those shortages include long-term and short-term lags between education and employment, with the report advocating for higher throughput of students and trainees through higher intakes and increased completion rates.

The report also notes a ‘suitability gap’, where employers find applicants with the right qualifications — but lacking experience in the role.

Here, a genuine lack of employability skills in applicants, and “unconscious bias” from employers, may be keeping businesses from taking on the workers they need.

As such, “it appears that the challenge is to enhance the attributes of qualified applicants through investing in their employability skills and their work experience,” the report says.

Finally, low employee retention in occupations with high turnover rates is contributing to those shortages.

The report states employers could boost working conditions, enhance professional development, or offer clearer career pathways to those workers.

Additionally, it notes that “improved remuneration” might help businesses secure hard-to-find talent.

However, very few businesses appear to be lifting their advertised wages to counteract workplace shortages.

In the 2023 Skilled Priority List survey period, just 1% of employers said they increased remuneration to attract suitable qualified workers to open vacancies.

“It can be seen there are likely to be a number of factors that need to be addressed to deal with persistent shortages and the strategy may need to be multi-pronged,” the report said.

“For example, increasing training places while exploring migration options in the short-term, combined with higher wages to attract more workers to the roles.

“Aged and disabled carers are an interesting case in point.”